Search

The dynamics around the dining room table on an Eating Disorders Unit, the patients' relationship with food and eating, together with those of the staff feeding them can all be seen as a reflection of the dynamics on the Unit at large and may externalize an individual's internal world. The three, hour-long meals each day can be some of the most difficult hours on an Eating Disorders Unit, anxiety provoking and stressful. Within this paper I describe the behaviours observed around food and think about the feelings engendered at the table as experienced by both patients and staff members. Furthermore, as a single-handed dietitian, working within a multidisciplinary team, I also consider my professional role on the Unit and within the feeding process. I shall draw upon psychoanalytic literature to explore the beginnings of the relationship between mother and infant that can be examined through the vital feeding relationship. When a person falls into the trap of an eating disorder, it frequently brings sufferer and parent, generally the mother, back into a relationship concentrating on food and feeding but in a far more fraught and painful manner. All names have been changed and some background details have been altered or omitted to protect identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninety patients with severe anorexia nervosa fulfilling DSM-III-R criteria were assessed in depth in terms of their family developmental psychopathology and then randomly allocated to either one of three treatment groups or to no treatment. In three treatment regimes, a behavioural approach to diet and weight gain was coupled with individual and family psychotherapy directed at the adolescent maturational problems. All three treatment regimes were highly significantly effective at one year in terms of weight gain, return of menstruation, and aspects of social and sexual adjustment. Body weights above those at pubertal onset were achieved for the group mean maximum and one-year follow-up weights for all three treatment groups but not the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the design of a random allocation prospective treatment study comparing three modalities of care and a nontreatment control. Problems encountered in the execution of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents highlights of the 2nd Eating Disorders Conference -- Anorexia, Bulimia, and Obesity at St. George's Hospital in London, England. Discussion on the relationship between anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and obesity; Presentation of papers on the subject; Focus on the role of multidisciplinary team with lectures from psychodrama, occupational therapy, and psychotherapy.